2019 Fort Payne, AL/Rome, GA Tornado
|type = EF5 tornado |image location = Maxresdefault_(1).jpg |image caption = The tornado at peak intensity |date = November 22, 2019 |times = 2:32PM - 4:44PM |touchdown = 6 miles NW of Rainsville |winds = 251 MPH |injuries = 117 |fatalities = 61 |damage = $12.5B |areas = Shown in the picture below |tornado season = 2019 tornado season }} The Fort Payne, AL/Rome, GA tornado was a violent tornado that tore through much of the North-Eastern parts of Alabama and parts of Georgia. Affected cities included Rainsville, Fort Payne, Rome, Cartersville, Woodstock, John's Creek, Lawrenceville and Athens. This long-tracked tornado caused a surprisingly low amount of fatalities due to early preparation from citizens. This would be one of the most powerful and long-tracked tornadoes recorded in Alabama and Georgia history. This tornado is one of very few EF5s to have happened during the month of November, making it very unexpected. After the course of the event, many fundraising campaigns were made to helped rebuild the cities that were affected by the tornado. A grand total of $5B was accumulated with all the campaigns all-together which help rebuild all of Fort Payne and parts of Rainsville. The rest of the money was funded by the government and local authorities. Meteorological Synopsis Day 1 outlook saw a High Risk issued for parts of Alabama and Georgia along with a rare 45% hatched tornado risk. Conditions were apt for explosive supercell development. No Enhanced nor Marginal was issued due to the lack of conditions that meet Marginal and Enhanced expectations. High amounts of low level wind shear along with a supporting LLJ contributed to the cold front that was already settling in the area, a PDS tornado watch was quickly issued in Alabama and was set to end at 10PM CDT. Temperatures were mostly above 85*F while dew points were above 70*F, something that is very rarely seen at this time of the year. Theta-E advection was over 30, CAPE was around 5 000 j/kg and CIN was very low, which allowed a easy cap break for supercell development to start erupting rapidly. Morning Events Early-day events saw some linear development along the boundary, embedded tornadoes were reported and some cases of flooding also occurred. Overall, nothing major happened during the early moments of the day, but as soon as we got into the afternoon, explosive development was seen after a very notable cap break. The Fort Payne,AL|Rome,GA Tornado After a multitude of major tornadoes including an EF4 that hit parts of Decatur and Huntsville, another major tornado would start developing 6 miles NW of Rainsville. At 2:32PM, a funnel cloud was spotted by a storm spotter near Tammy Little Drive and was seen headed for Rainsville. That funnel would shortly after touchdown and intensify to then, at 2:37PM, hit downtown Rainsville with EF4 intensity. The damage caused by this tornado was very widespread and almost reduced Rainsville to a ghost town not long after the event and surprisingly, nobody died from this tornado even with over 90% of the city in total desolation. Several homes were reportedly flattened and a 2x4 was launched into a house, which injured a person inside. Following after, the next target would be Fort Payne, the tornado would hit at 2:44PM downtown Fort Payne. A tornado emergency was issued not long after spotters reported a large, violent, wedge tornado that hit Rainsville was. With how fast this tornado was moving, people had little to no preparation with tornado sirens being issued a mere 3 minutes before the hit. 21 people died in Fort Payne. 80% of the city was reportedly destroyed. Houses were completely leveled with mangled cars here and there, a local school was badly hit but closures due to expected severe weather threats spared lives. Most businesses were reduced to garbage and the city hall was flattened. The tornado would not too long after cross the Alabama/Georgia state line and head straight on for Rome at EF5 intensity. At 3:13PM, downtown Rome was hit and EF5 damage was very widespread already. The tornado would then hit the Redmond Regional Medical Center, heavily deforming the structure, the following which then needed to be taken down due to the severity of the damage. Meanwhile, lots of homes were flattened in the tornado's path including Rome as shown in the gallery below. Some houses were also seen with slabs swept clean, one that was said to have been shifted by the tornado. 40 people died in Rome following the passage of the tornado. At 3:32PM, Cartersville would be destroyed by the tornado with no deaths reported because of a well-timed tornado emergency and with also the fact that it only hit the city limits. Cartersville will be the last city to feel the worst of the tornado as the tornado was weakening at the time it hit but even then, EF4 damage was reported on the spot by the DA team. A small and old 3-story hospital was leveled down to the 1st floor with only interior walls remaining, the following which contributed to the EF4 rating of the damage along with weaker homes that were swept clean, given EF4 rating due to their toughness. At 3:58PM, Roswell and Alpharetta, both which are about 30 miles from Cartersville, sustained damage ranging from EF2 to EF3, trees were debarked and some homes had their entire roofs torn off. Light cars were also thrown several yards from their original location and heavier vehicles were displaced. At 4:04PM, the tornado will go on to hit Johns Creek while causing damage only as high as Mid-End EF3. Although the damage wasn't as major as it was in the previous affected areas, it was very widespread and the fact that it is in a major city makes it all the more worse. Many small businesses were forced to move out due to the collapsing of their buildings due to their old age and fragile structure. Many houses were required complete renovation due to more cases of collapsing homes due to foundations being weakened by the initial hit. The former violent tornado would go towards Lawrenceville and directly hit downtown at 4:14PM, causing only Low-End EF2 damage on the spot with only source of damage being uprooted softwood trees and some house roofs torn off. The tornado would then eventually dissipate East of Athens at 4:44PM, causing only EF0 damage in the surrounding area with only reports of snapped softwood tree branches. This very long-lasting tornado covered 155 miles in 2 hours and 12 minutes, making it one of the longest tornadoes in recent history. This tornado also moved at an incredible 70 MPH during its lifetime, making it also one of the fastest. The following not only managed to live for so long and move so fast, but it also did EF4 damage spreading at least 100 miles throughout its path, making this one of the most widespread EF4 damage from a tornado. Aftermaths Ground scouring of 1 feet was reported in some places along with homes in Rome being swept clean. Rainsville and Fort Payne sustained respectively Low-End EF4 and High-End EF4 damage. Rome sustained Mid-End EF5 damage while Cartersville sustained Very Low-End EF5 damage. The Redmond Regional Medical Center was advised that potential for violent tornadoes was there and local staff handled the situation to avoid mass casualties. The hard work from the staff managed to save at least 100 people. The final toll of the damage would be of $12.5B, making it one of the costliest tornadoes on record. The majority of the damage is from the bigger cities like Fort Payne, Rome and even Johns Creek. It is said that both Fort Payne and Rome have at least $4B worth of damage, which are incredibly high numbers. The average damage worth per city is around $1-2B, something that is never seen. This EF5 tornado also marks the end of the EF5 drought that was on-going since the last one being on May 20, 2013 that hit the Moore area. Screenshot_340.png|The path of the tornado Screenshot_341.png|The affected counties EF5_tornado_damage_example.jpg|Damage in Rome 220px-Philadelphia, MS ground scouring.jpg|Intense ground scouring by the tornado Something.png|Day 1 Convective Outlook issued by the SPC afirst.png|A photo of the tornado when it was approaching Fort Payne